Paul Lambert will fly to America this week to hold crisis talks with Randy Lerner after the Aston Villa owner confirmed that he was putting the club up for sale. With no takeover deal believed to be imminent, Lambert is expected to seek clarification on his own position as manager, to establish what the immediate future holds for him, as well how the club will continue to operate during what promises to be a summer of uncertainty.

Lerner said in a statement released on Monday morning that he has engaged Bank of America Merrill Lynch to advise on the sale of the club he bought from Doug Ellis for £62.6m in 2006, after deciding that the time was right "to look for new ownership". The American is understood to be hoping to recoup up to two thirds of the £300m he has invested in Villa over the last eight years, although it remains to be seen how easy that will be, given the club's poor results on and off the field in recent years. As well as finishing in the Premier League's bottom six in each of the last three seasons, Villa's cumulative losses during Lerner's reign stand at £217.7m.

It is understood that there is genuine interest in Villa, including in America, but nothing to suggest that the club will change hands quickly.

All of which leaves Lambert in a state of limbo, unsure whether he will hold on to a position that was already looking precarious after another hugely disappointing season, and what transfer activity, if any, can go ahead at Villa Park during the period when the club is for sale but not sold.

The Villa manager will hope to get answers to those questions and more during a meeting with Lerner in New York. Lambert was planning to attend the club's end-of-season awards dinner before then but that event, scheduled to take place on Tuesday night, was cancelled on Monday after Villa decided that the combination of a poor season and Lerner's decision to sell made it nigh on impossible for the evening to go ahead.

It seems almost inevitable that Lambert, who has 12 months remaining on his contract, will move on as and when Villa is sold but nothing can be said for certain at this stage and within the club all eventualities are being considered, including the possibility that a takeover will not be completed this summer. Lerner clearly hopes that will not be the case after coming to the conclusion that the time is right to get out.

After three successive top-six finishes under Martin O'Neill, from 2008 to 2010, Villa have flirted with relegation in each of the last four seasons. During that period Lerner has faced criticism from supporters for making few trips to Villa Park and for tightening the purse strings, in particular during Lambert's two years in charge, when the best part of £40m has been spent on players but there has been a concerted effort to reduce the wage bill.

"I have come to know well that fates are fickle in the business of English football. And I feel that I have pushed mine well past the limit," Lerner said in his statement. "The last several seasons have been week-in, week-out battles and having now come through this last season unfortunately limping amidst very meaningful injuries and constant sale rumours, I feel further that now is the time for me to look for new ownership and thus new leadership.

"I have asked the world of Paul Lambert and Paul Faulkner [the chief executive] and they have both delivered selflessly. On a personal level it is time for me, like the Shunammite, to dwell among my own and get on with other aspects of my career, following a sale.

"Above all the debt I owe Aston Villa whether as owner, chairman, custodian or simply as a fan is to put the club first. To make good on that debt, I owe it to Villa to move on and look for fresh, invigorated leadership, if in my heart I feel I can no longer do the job."